Giving the Philadelphia Flyers some ideas for New Year's resolution

PHILADELPHIA – The big glittery ball is about the drop in Times Square, which means only one thing.

It’s time to welcome in a new year - and make new year’s resolutions that won’t last the rest of the week.

In the spirit of making vows to eat less and exercise more, let’s come up with some new year’s resolutions for the Philadelphia Flyers.

Without further delay ...

Make the playoffs: This one should be obvious and the biggest priority of everyone in the organization from the stick boys to the players to the front office. The Flyers missed the playoffs for the first time in six years and just the second time in the last 18 years last season. They haven’t missed the postseason in consecutive seasons since 1992-93 and 93-94 campaigns.

Since a dismal 1-7 start to this season that led to coach Peter Laviolette’s dismissal, the Flyers have gone 16-9-4 and sit in the thick of the postseason mix.

However, their dreadful first month has left them little wiggle room for error or a prolonged slump. With at least a half-dozen teams fighting for the final spot or two, a bad couple of weeks could drop them far behind in the race and spell disaster.

Even in a weak Metropolitan Division, it is probably going to take 90-plus points to at least grab third place, which is the final automatic playoff berth.

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Sign Steve Mason to a long-term extension: For the first time since Ron Hextall manned the pipes – well, his first stint with the club in the late 80s and early 90s – the Flyers appear to have a bona fide No. 1 goaltender in Mason. The net-minder is 14-9-4 and had a 2.35 goals against average and .923 save percentage heading into Saturday’s game at Edmonton. His GAA and save percentage numbers are both tied for eighth for NHL goalies that have played at least 20 games or more.

Mason is the reason the Flyers season didn’t dissolve into ruin. He has returned to the level of play that made him the league’s rookie of the year and been the team MVP through the first 37 games.

Just 25 years old, the Flyers must reward him with a contract. A restricted free agent at season’s end Mason, who signed a one-year $1.5 million deal over the summer, has been compared to Montreal’s Corey Price (six years, $39 millions) by his agent.

That is a bit overvalued given the two goalies’ resumes, but if the final deal can land in the four-year, $17-20 million range it would be fair for both sides.

Find Claude Giroux a sniper: Whether it’s at the trade deadline this year or during the summer, the team needs to obtain a true sniper for its most gifted player. Despite his goal scoring abilities, Giroux’s game is as an elite passer. And right now he can’t maximize his talents – not with Jakub Voracek or Michael Raffl on his line.

Voracek has the potential to score 30 goals – he had a career-high 22 in 48 games last year – but he is mainly another play-maker and excellent complement to Giroux. Raffl, who took over for Scott Hartnell just six games ago, has provided a spark but is not the long-term answer.

Someone like Zach Parise, who chose to sign with the Wild rather than the Flyers two years ago, or Bobby Ryan, who was dealt to the Senators in the offseason would have fit the bill. They are not easy to trade for or cheap to sign but adding a true sniper could be the cure to this team’s too often scoring woes.

Add a puck-carrying defenseman, or two: Like all-star snipers, they don’t grow on trees, either. But last summer’s answer to this deficiency – Mark Streit – has been a total bust so far.

Streit has been a disappointment in the first year of his four-year, 21 million contract and the Flyers other puck-carrying defenseman have fallen short. At age 38, Kimmo Timonen’s distinguished career is all but over, Andrej Meszaros is a shell of the player he once was after a slew of injuries and Eric Gustafsson is a nice young player but coughs up the puck too much.

The Flyers need one or two defenders that can skate the puck out of the zone or make that key outlet pass. With $10 million freed up from Timonen’s and Mezsaros’ contracts expiring, GM Paul Holmgren will have enough money to pay such a player or two.

Decide on whether Sean Couturier, Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds are keepers: The trio of youngsters were the centerpieces of the mega-deals Holmgren made when he traded captain Mike Richards to L.A. for Schenn and Simmonds and Jeff Carter to Columbus for Voracek and the first-round pick that ended up being Couturier.

After two full years and half of this year, the jury is still out on all three.

Couturier has shown, especially recently, he has the ability to match his potential of being a formidable two-way center in the NHL. In his fifth year in the league, Simmonds has proven he can score 25 goals a year and play a gritty style, but hasn't proven he is a top-six forward, while the much-heralded Schenn, at just 22, is still trying to find his game and consistency in the league.

How the three players eventually pan out, and whether they remain wearing orange and black, will be a huge factor in the future of the organization considering what the Flyers gave up in return.